After a decade of Jackass and "fail" videos, it's pretty hard to shock us anymore. But this video does exactly that: it's a stunning battle of man versus bees. This is nature like you've never seen her before, and one man at his stupidest. You might think you can predict what happens when "Coyote" Peterson is attacked by 3,000 bees, but we can bet you never saw this coming...

Why Would You Do This?

It's the million-dollar question: why on earth would you want to let 3,000 bees attack your face? This is a confrontation with nature at its most vicious and painful. It takes a special breed of bravery - or stupidity - to pull off a stunt like this, and there's truly not many in the world who would have the guts.

You're going to see, in the following video, some of the rawest footage you've ever seen. Forget David Attenborough and his Planet Earth: this is really getting up close and personal with nature. He's going to let 3,000 bees out of their hive and let them crawl over his face. You're going to see a man writhe in agony and wish he could turn back time. You're going to see lips that even Kylie Jenner would be jealous of...

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Bees

Bees, as scary as they are, are one of the most fascinating insects on the planet. There are over 20,000 individual species of bees in existence, in seven biological families, and they are found in every single continent in the world except for Antarctica. The smallest bee is about 2mm (0.08in) long, and the largest, a species of leafcutter bee called Megachile pluto, can be up to a massive 1.54in long.

Bees are known in the insect world for their vitally important role in pollinating flowers. They feed off the nectar and pollen in flowers, using them for energy and protein. At the same time, as they fly from one food source to another, they unwittingly carry pollen between flowers, thereby allowing the flowers to "reproduce" and spread. The best known bee species, the European honey bee, also uses the pollen and nectar to create their stunning honeycombs, which produce honey and beeswax.

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A Disappearing Species

The last decade has actually seen troubling statistics for bees. There has been a drastic disappearance of colonies of both the western honey bee and the European honey bee all across the northern hemisphere, and since these bees are incredibly important in pollinating agricultural food crops, their vanishing could lead to the loss of revenue by farmers in the order of billions of dollars, as well as long-term reduction and damage of global food supply.

Nobody is still quite sure what the cause of this mass disappearance of bees is. Some claim pesticides have killed off large numbers of bees, while others point to air pollution and loss of natural habitats. Another prevailing theory is that genetically modified crops are no longer providing sufficiently nutritious food to the bees, or that climate change is disrupting their seasonal behaviour and killing them off. Whatever it is, it's a serious problem that needs to be addressed.

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How Painful Is It?

Most of us have been stung by a bee at least once in our lifetimes. So we know that it's pretty damn painful, especially if you're highly allergic. But multiply that by 3,000 bees, and you've got a world of agony. The standard bee has two pain-causing glands: one is a poison gland, and the other is called the Dufour's gland. This particular abdominal organ contains chemicals that are used in several important functions, including release of pheromones, egg-laying, hive construction, and communication.

But in humans, the only thing is does is severely irritate the skin. And again, if it's just one single bee stinging you, you're only likely to feel the pinch and the following throb for a few minutes. When there's a couple of thousand of them, on the other hand, that poison is just going to build and build.

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The Allergic Reaction

Once a swarm of bees starts stinging, they're not going to stop. Bees actually also release a pheromone when they sting you, basically as a marker to attract even more bees. Once one has had a taste, it's a free for all. So that scene out of My Girl wasn't totally unrealistic.

Neither was Macauley Culkin's allergic reaction in that movie. Depending on how allergic you are to the particularly acidic bee sting, some people can go into anaphylactic shock. If you're mildly allergic - which most people are - then it's fine. All you'll see as a reaction is some light swelling and itching. But if you're really allergic, you're in a world of trouble. Within minutes, your tongue could swell, your windpipe could close over, you could start vomiting, and - if you don't find medical help soon - you could even die.

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A Look At "Coyote" Peterson

So who is this crazy guy behind this stunt? His name is Nathan "Coyote" Peterson, and he's kind of known for doing weird stuff like this with animals and insects. He's 35 years old, and he's been running Brave Wilderness, a Discovery Channel web series, for around two years. Born in rural Ohio, he had a fascination with animals for years. He would go in search of snapping turtles, keep insect collections, and read countless books about them.

Even so, his education was in Film at Ohio State University. When he finished film school, though, he realized that he could combine both of his loves into one zany series. His idea - to get up close and extremely personal with some very vicious creatures - was immediately picked up by the Discovery Channel, and made him into the star he is today.

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His YouTube Channel

And what a star he is. His YouTube channel, Brave Wilderness, has racked up over half a billion views. His audience just keeps growing and growing, and his search for animals to attack him has taken him to some of the most exotic places on the planet. With viewer numbers like those, and irrepressible enthusiasm he shows on camera, it looks like he's going to be doing this for a while.

Naming Bear Grylls as one of his inspirations, his web episodes aren't always about shocking the viewer. He also aims to educate people about the creatures that he faces, and spread an important message of conservation to the internet. Often he has episodes called "Coyote's Backyard", where he brings his daughter along (kinda like Steve Irwin) and they both shed the light on some of Earth's weirdest and most wonderful critters. It's fascinating stuff.

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Some Of His Other Stunts

Always in search of something more extreme, Coyote Peterson has gone to the ends of the Earth to find the most bizarre insects and animals to bite him. He's especially interested in insects which set records as having "the most painful bite" in the world. Last year, he discovered the tarantula hawk, a massive species of wasp that is said to have the second most painful sting of any insect on the planet. It stung him, and viewers were treated to a full five minutes of him rolling around on the ground, clawing at the dirt and screaming in agony. It was pretty funny.

Another of his was the so-called "bullet ant", which people claimed had a sting even more painful than the tarantula hawk. In fact, the sting of the bullet ant lasts around 24 hours, and has been described as "like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail embedded in your heel". For that, he had to travel to the deepest jungles of Costa Rica.

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Don't Worry Folks, He's Not Going To Die

This video is vicarious pain at its best. It's all of the experience of being attacked by a vicious insect - and don't tell us you're not a little bit curious - but without any of the indescribable pain. Best of all, as much fun as this video is, Coyote Peterson is not in any real danger. Unlike people like Steve Irwin, who put their life on the line for entertainment, Coyote is a bit more sensible. We prefer our animal enthusiasts to be alive at the end of each episode, anyway. Otherwise who else would tell us about this wonderfully weird world of ours?

No, Coyote has actually got a crew on hand at all times, in case things get a little too real. They're not going to pull him out if it's too painful - don't worry about that - but if it does come down to a matter of life or death, they're ready to give him the assistance he needs. Maybe we're getting old, but we think that this kind of sensible insanity is a pretty good idea.

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Watch This Hilarious Stunt

Now it's the moment you've all been waiting for. Now, here's your chance to watch this insane man do something pretty damn stupid. Watch this video, laugh till you puke, and maybe even learn a thing or two. After all, there's no need to worry: some other idiot is doing all the painful stuff for you.

But what about you? What do you think of the video? Would you ever do something like this? How much money would it take for you to be attacked by 3,000 bees? Or are you more of a wasp person? How far would you go for a couple of hundred million YouTube hits? Is Coyote Peterson an educational genius, or just the next Johnny Knoxville? And maybe the most burning question of all: does anyone feel like eating some honey, all of a sudden?